Sun Says Lasso Needed on .NET

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Sun Says Lasso Needed on .NET

WASHINGTON – The interminable Microsoft v. Sun spat, which has pitted the two tech giants against each other longer than anyone cares to remember, took over a federal courtroom on Tuesday.

An executive from Sun Microsystems, joining the cavalcade of Microsoft foes who have taken the stand over the last few weeks, said a federal judge should limit Microsoft's abilities to compete in the "Web services" market – including its .NET suite.

Sun's chief strategy officer, Jonathan Schwartz, said that Microsoft's .NET strategy could thwart competition and unfairly prevail over rival efforts – such as the ones promoted by Sun.

Alternative Web services remain important because "consumers will not be required to purchase Microsoft's desktop operating system in order to run the applications they desire," Schwartz said in written testimony.

Microsoft lawyer Steven Holley attempted to cast doubt on Schwartz's testimony by focusing on varying definitions of Web services within the company. Holley said, for instance, that Sun vice president James Gosling admitted he wasn't aware of anyone offering such services.

Holley produced a document from former Sun executive Anne Thomas Manes, which offered a careful definition of Web services: something that is accessible on the Web, exposes an XML interface, and communicates using XML messages.

Holley then challenged Schwartz's understanding of the term. "Are you telling this court that XML is the same as HTML?" asked Holley.

"Absolutely not," replied Schwartz.

The U.S. Department of Justice and nine of the original 18 states have tentatively settled their massive antitrust case against Microsoft, and U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly is in the process of deciding whether the deal is in the "public interest."

Meanwhile, the non-settling states and the District of Columbia are continuing with their courtroom pursuit and are seeking to convince Kollar-Kotelly to impose a more onerous punishment. The states' scheme would benefit Sun because it would force Microsoft to bundle Java with Windows.

In another exchange, Schwartz criticized Microsoft's .NET Web services platform, which he believes could damage competition and extend the company's monopoly.

"When you say that .NET expands Microsoft's campaign against Netscape Navigator and Java to limit or block the ability to replace or interoperate with its monopoly products, are you making the allegation that Microsoft is anti-competitive?" Holley asked.

"I think embracing and extending without an open standard is just bad business," Schwartz replied.

"Sun created the Liberty Alliance to further its own interests," Holley said. "Don't you see it as a mechanism to generate revenue for its shareholders?"

Holley said that Liberty Alliance has potentially over 2 billion users, compared to .NET's Passport, which has 160 million users.

Liberty Alliance plans to release its preliminary specification by the middle of this year.

Testifying in the fourth week of hearings, Schwartz is the 13th witness to take the stand on behalf of the nine states, plus D.C., that are pursuing stiffer antitrust penalties against Microsoft.

The nine still-litigating states are California, Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah and West Virginia.

Witnesses called by the still-litigating states are currently testifying during the courtroom proceedings, which will last at least a few more weeks. Microsoft then will have the opportunity to call witnesses in its defense.